New research funded by Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (ESPRC) is to test an alternative fuel made from residual mixed plastic waste, known as Plaxx, to power industrial and marine engines.

Plaxx researchers will be examined to see if it can be used efficiently in diesel engines that currently use heavy fuel oil (HFO) without harming the engine.

Diesel engines are currently used in a number of marine vessels, including tankers and ferries, as well as other nautical machinery.

UK-based business management consultant Maritime Strategies International (MSI) reported that Brexit, the vote for the UK to withdraw from the European Union (EU), will have an impact on the container shipping market.

The company’s analysis of the Brexit vote revealed that the downside risks for this market have been extended beyond this year and into next as the risk of recession grows at a time of short-term political and economic uncertainty.

The UK market only represents around 5m twenty-foot equivalent units (teu) out of a global total of 185m teu, and the impact of the country’s reduced economic growth as a result of Brexit will be slight for container shipping.

UAE-based DP World signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state-run Taiwan International Ports (TIPC) for development of Kaohsiung Port’s Terminal 7 in Taiwan.

The deal also aims to develop future joint efforts in business, as well as boost Taiwan’s port infrastructure and improve the country’s trade by establishing well-organised cargo movement across its supply chain.

Under the collaboration, DP World will use its experience to help develop Taiwan’s economy.

Cruise company Carnival opened a €75m safety training facility, called Arison Maritime Center, in Almere, the Netherlands.

The facility will provide rigorous safety training to its 6,500 deck and engineering officers responsible for the navigation and operation of its fleet of cruise ships across its ten brands, including Holland America, Princess, Carnival, and Costa.

The seven acre campus has an 110,000ft² Center for Simulator Maritime Training Academy (CSMART Academy), a medical centre as well as a 176-room hotel for trainees.

Xeneta, a market intelligence platform for containerised ocean freight, believes that increased efficiencies resulting from the Panama Canal extension may deepen the crisis for the sector by undermining rates.

The company said that the increased waterway's capacity after the extension may not be as beneficial as it seems for container ship carriers.

The new sets of locks and deeper, wider shipping channels will double the waterway's capacity of the Panama Canal, enabling neo-panamax vessels to transit for the first time.